P-3: Ruth Ferris Collection of River Life and Lore

HISTORY: Miss Ruth Ferris was a river and steamboat historian and writer, and one of
the most respected educators of St. Louis for over a half century. Besides
her excellent scholarship, she traveled on the rivers, recording these experiences,
and she was a life-long friend to river people, and those interested in the
river. Her collection of river objects and papers expanded out of her basement
to the River Room at the Missouri Historical Society, to the Becky Thatcher Museum, and to their final home at the Mercantile Library.

SCOPE: This collection covers many aspects of inland
river history, particularly on the Mississippi River.Included are extensive
research files on vessels, particularly the famous steam packets and excursion
boats; river locations and communities; and biographical information on hundreds
of individuals associated with the rivers. 10,000 photographs dated from
1870 to the 1970s, include rare images of steamboats, river, communities,
landings, and people.

HOLDINGS:
Approximately 200 linear feet; 300 volumes. This is a varied collection of
books, photographs, artifacts, manuscripts, prints, and ephemera. It is literally
anything that pertained to steamboats including pilot licenses, bills of lading,
boat tickets, gingerbread trim and decoration, bells and whistles, china,
silver, and gambling devices. Miss Ruth Ferris accumulated her research files
and manuscript collections, which encompassed information concerning river
history, boats, river people, companies, floods, folklore, art and statistics.

The majority of these pieces of paper which relate to business and vessel transporting goods are from the Ruth Ferris Collection, and are for the most part Bills of Lading. There are two listings one Alphabetical (.pdf) and the other Chronological (.pdf). These documents are located in folders labeled for instance, Courier � Realia, and soon a new database listing all Vessel folders will be searchable.

ACCESS: This is Special Collection P-3. Some of
the collection may be photocopied, digitally scanned, or photographed, depending
on condition.